AC fan not working

My AC fan just konked out on an 89
Camry.
I was wondering whether anyone has
experience with this problem. It's a 4 speed fan and thefirst 2 speeds
have
gone out earlier. (A couple of years ago.)
Now there is nothing. The third and fourth
speeds went all at once today.(after coming on briefly.) Checked for
fuses
but couldn't find the problem. Someone said something about a ballast
resistor.
Could this be it? Where is it? How do I check it? Any help would be
appreciated.
I'd hate to have to take it to a repair shop.

It probably is the resistor "block" for the blower motor. This is located
inside in the firewall very close to the blower motor itself.

If you have a junkyard nearby, you may be able to find one or more good
resistors in the cars there and simply replace your burned out one. Any
comparable Camry ('87-'91) ahould do. This is what I have always done.
Apparently, I am harder on my A/C and heat usage than others.

TJ
> I was wondering whether anyone has
> experience with this problem. It's a 4 speed fan and thefirst 2 speeds
> have
> gone out earlier. (A couple of years ago.)
> Now there is nothing. The third and fourth
> speeds went all at once today.(after coming on briefly.) Checked for
> fuses
> but couldn't find the problem. Someone said something about a ballast
> resistor.
> Could this be it? Where is it? How do I check it? Any help would be
> appreciated.
> I'd hate to have to take it to a repair shop.

<HowardFromFla@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:4196-428F72B8-48@storefull-3218.bay.webtv.net...
> My AC fan just konked out on an 89
> Camry.
> I was wondering whether anyone has
> experience with this problem. It's a 4 speed fan and thefirst 2 speeds
> have
> gone out earlier. (A couple of years ago.)
> Now there is nothing. The third and fourth
> speeds went all at once today.(after coming on briefly.) Checked for
> fuses
> but couldn't find the problem. Someone said something about a ballast
> resistor.
> Could this be it? Where is it? How do I check it? Any help would be
> appreciated.
> I'd hate to have to take it to a repair shop.

It's unlikely to be the resistor block causing the High or maximum fan
setting to stop working. Once the max fan is selected or switched to, the
resistor block is bypassed. I'd be checking the supply fuse for the fan, If
it is intact, then the fan-swith itself has failed.

I have another suggestion. On my 90 camry, after I fixed the resistor block,
a few weeks later the fan (blower motor) quit working altogether. It would
start and then quit in a very annoying way. Finaly it stopped running
altogether. The problem was that after 14 years of faithful service, the fan
motor was literally full of dirt. No kidding. The fan motor has a little
tube that directs cooling air into the motor housing from the ac/heater
plenum. That hose directed years of pollen and dust into the motor housing
and eventually gummed up the motor. Here's a list of things to do:
1)if your resistor block is ruined replace or fix that.
2) remove the fan -it's up under the dash in the right foot well on '90 Camrys
--3 screws, the aforementioned hose and the wiring clip need to be removed.
3) Take the blower motor, still in its plastic housing with the squirrel cage
fan attached, outside, or at least into a garage that you are not very picky
about in terms of cleanliness. The fan itself has a clip on it but is
basically a pressure fit on the blower motor shaft. Remove the fan and then
extract the motor from the plastic housing. (It too is a pressure fit) Now,
really I strongly suggest tht you go outside with the motor and a can of
compressed air and blow the dust and debris out of that assembly. If I ever
do this again I'd wear a dust mask too. The dust that accumulates is
extremely fine and will float and be easily inhaled. Avoid inhaling it.
After the assembly and housing is clean, you can lubricate the motor on the
shaft where it contacts the bearings of the motor. I used lightweight 3-in-1
or sewing machine oil--sparingly--and only had to smell it for a couple of
weeks--doubtless there is a better, odorless solution that someone else may
have. On my fan assembly, the squirrel cage fan itself appeared to be gray
plastic, but after cleaning, the thing was white!
4) put the blower motor back into its housing, reattach the fan, replace whole
assembly on the car (reverse of disassembly) and see if it works. My
experience was that a seemingly ruined blower motor has performed flawlessly
now for more than a year.
Note: there are other threads in this group about fan motor brushes wearing
out and on fixing that pesky resistor block.

Hope this helps

Jason James wrote:
> <HowardFromFla@webtv.net> wrote in message
> news:4196-428F72B8-48@storefull-3218.bay.webtv.net...
> > My AC fan just konked out on an 89
> > Camry.
> > I was wondering whether anyone has
> > experience with this problem. It's a 4 speed fan and thefirst 2 speeds
> > have
> > gone out earlier. (A couple of years ago.)
> > Now there is nothing. The third and fourth
> > speeds went all at once today.(after coming on briefly.) Checked for
> > fuses
> > but couldn't find the problem. Someone said something about a ballast
> > resistor.
> > Could this be it? Where is it? How do I check it? Any help would be
> > appreciated.
> > I'd hate to have to take it to a repair shop.
>
> It's unlikely to be the resistor block causing the High or maximum fan
> setting to stop working. Once the max fan is selected or switched to, the
> resistor block is bypassed. I'd be checking the supply fuse for the fan, If
> it is intact, then the fan-swith itself has failed.
>
> Jason

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